ROAD RACING AT ITS VERY BEST SEE BACK PAGE OCTOBER 1-7, 2008 ATLANTA’SATLANTA’S WEEKLY SPORTS SPORTS TALK TALK NEWSPAPER NEWSPAPER VOL 4 NO 40 02 I SCORE ATLANTA Get In The Game! WWW.SCOREATL.COM OCTOBER 1-7, 2008 SCORE ATLANTA I 03 ™ STARTING LINEUP IN YOUR PUBLISHER/EDITOR I.J. Rosenberg FACE… MANAGING EDITOR Tad Arapoglou DIRECTOR OF SALES/MARKETING John Duke ART/CREATIVE DIRECTOR David Gaudio GRAPHIC DESIGNER D.J. Galbiati WEBMASTER Alex Ewalt WWW.SCOREATL.COM VIDEO MANAGER/PREP EDITOR Scott Janovitz BUSINESS MANAGER Marvin Botnick 4 Kevin Dankosky writes about the “long walk SALES Zander Lentz, Brian Pruett home” while leaving the UGA-Alabama game. OFFICE MANAGER Nakia Washington Many fans did not even stick around past halftime. BEAT WRITERS Josh Bagriansky (Dream), Stephen Black ________________________________________________ (Silverbacks), Jason Boral (Thrashers), James Butler (UGA), Dave Cohen (Georgia State), Johnny Crosskey (Tech), Alex Ewalt (Preps), Erik Horne (Falcons), Scott 5 I.J. Rosenberg tells the Bulldogs to pack away those Janovitz (Hawks/Recruiting), Fletcher Proctor (Braves) black jerseys “until at least 2010,” and also offers his STAFF WRITERS Cranston Collier, Joe Deighton, Ricky Dimon, thoughts on the Jackets and Falcons. Rajesh Gupta, Zander Lentz, Andrew McCarron, Corey Mitchell, ___________________________________________________________ Jessica Parker, Leighton Savary, Keafer Triplett, Derek Wiley CONTRIBUTORS Dean Zindler, Kevin Dankosky, Mitch Evans, 13 Fletcher Proctor recaps the highs and lows of 2008 for Matt Judy, Tony Schiavone, Richard Diamond, Joe Haines, Brian Tim Hudson (pictured) and the Braves, and ponders what Katrek, Chris Dimino, Mike Bell, Matt Stewart, Fred Kalil, Nick needs must be met before 2009. Cellini, Phillip Leopold, Dave Marshall, Greg Smith, Steak Shapiro, _______________________________________________________ Mike Cather, Beau Bock, Chuck Oliver, Hal Lamar, Chris Cotter, Matt Chernoff, Roy Hickman, Dave Cohen, John Olah, Jeff 22 Alex Ewalt previews some of the big high school Woolverton, Chris Voss, Bob Rathbun, Courtney Capps, Bill football matchups coming up this Friday, including Hartman, Chuck Dowdle, Shannon Alderman, Dan Kamal, Dennis Northside-Warner Robins vs. Lowndes. Scott, C.C., Hal Lanier, Jeff Batten, Micah Hart, Ben Wright, Alan Vasquez, Andrew Vedlitz, Brian Jones A SCORE UPDATE: SPECIAL CONTRIBUTORS Mitch Albom, Dave Kindred, Barry Bloom We are looking for Web interns to help with our new Web site at Scoreatl.com. If you are interested in getting ™ SCHOOL an all-around Web experience, please email Alex Ewalt at LISTING [email protected] or call 404-256-1572. CHEROKEE/FORSYTH: Cherokee, Creekview, Etowah, Forsyth Central, North Forsyth, Sequoyah, South Forsyth, West Forsyth, Woodstock COBB: Allatoona, Campbell, Harrison, Kell, Kennesaw Mountain, Lassiter, TEAM PAGES I COLUMNS Marietta, McEachern, N. Cobb, N. Cobb Christian, Pebblebrook, Pope, S. Cobb, Sprayberry, Walton, Wheeler MELTING THE ICE: As if the DEKALB: Chamblee, Columbia, Decatur, Druid Hills, Dunwoody, COVER DESIGN BY DAVID GAUDIO; COVER PHOTO COURTESY OF ROB SAYE. Lakeside, Marist, Miller Grove, M.L. King, Paideia, Redan, St. Pius MLB playoffs, NFL and NCAA football weren’t giv- X, Southwest DeKalb, Stephenson, Stone Mountain, Tucker ing us enough of a sports fix, the new NHL season FULTON: Alpharetta, Blessed Trinity, Centennial, Chattahoochee, Douglass, Grady, Lovett, Mays, Milton, North Springs, Northview, is only days away! All-Star Ilya Kovalchuk (pic- 4 MEMORY LANE 6 DUE UP-SCORE LIST 7 SPIN-C.C. Riverwood, Roswell, Tri-Cities, Westminster, Woodward Academy tured) and the Thrashers kick off the 2008-09 sea- GWINNETT: Berkmar, Brookwood, Buford, C. Gwinnett, Collins Hill, Dacula, Grayson, Greater Atlanta Christian, Meadowcreek, Mill son on Oct. 10, but first the team hosts former 8 YEARS PAST 9 GOLF 10 PANTHERS 12 CHUCK OLIVER Creek, Norcross, North Gwinnett, Parkview, Peachtree Ridge, South Gwinnett, Wesleyan Thrasher Marian Hossa and Detroit in preseason 15 FALCONS 16 THRASHERS-HAWKS 17 OWLS-BRAVES action on Wednesday. Photo courtesy of Scott Cunningham. 18 BULLDOGS 19 JACKETS 20-21 CALENDAR 22 AD INDEX WWW.SCOREATL.COM 04 I SCORE ATLANTA Get In The Game! UGA’s struggles cause ‘longest walk ever’ Top longball; NBA Store celebrates Year 10 ’ve never seen anything like that before.” SECOND-HALF ‘COMEBACK’ … he battle of the home run hitters. We Over 1 million fans from over 150 countries “I“We got our @#$ kicked.” “Another big As I approached my car parked behind Tknow who tops the list, but what collec- visit the NBA Store each year. More info is game and we don’t show up.” “Who kid- Stegeman, the crowds dispersed and I tors are willing to pay for that record-set- available at www.nba.com/nycstore. napped Matthew Stafford?” “How embar- noticed all the tent cities that were so festive ting home run memorabilia is another story. rassing was that?” “Can I take this black shirt before the game were now deserted and in Check out who’s No. 1 on this week’s FROM THE MAILBAG … back to Target?” “Hey buddy, get away from shambles. Apparently the shock waves of online auction report. Dear Dean: I have an Aluminum 1977 my gas tank with that straw!” what hit the Dogs on the field had a ripple Dale Murphy rookie card. I’m attempting to These are the things I heard while mak- effect through campus, leaving no survivors. • Ken Griffey Jr.’s 600th Home Run Baseball do some research but have had little success. ing the trek back to my car at halftime of the I was happy I didn’t have to clean up the • 1966 Mickey Mantle Autographed What do you know of the item? Georgia-Alabama football game on Saturday Home Run Baseball No. 485/518 Dear Metal Man: The Dale Murphy mess and wondered how Mark Richt would • Barry Bonds 760th Home Run Baseball Aluminum Baseball Rookie Card was night in the longest walk ever. Never before clean up the mess on the field. had I left a Georgia football game so early • 1951 Joe DiMaggio World Series Game issued in the early 1980s. Ten-thousand Although I pulled for the Dawgs while 4 Final Home Run Baseball cards were produced and each is numbered. and never before has the walk seemed so listening to Scott Howard’s second-half crowded and sullen. The Bulldog nation • 1973 Willie Mays Home Run Baseball The cards sold out and were originally seemed shocked and saddened as if a sudden play-by-play while I drove home on 316, it No. 656/660 priced at $10 with proceeds from the sale storm had just devastated the campus. The was a moot point. There was no way going to the Huntington’s Disease Crimson Tide had just rolled over Athens. Georgia would come back, as the deficit And the winner is … “The Kid” Ken Foundation. Although the card is a limited Some call me the eternal optimist—and was just too big. To be honest, my concern Griffey Jr., whose 600th home run knocked edition, it doesn’t have as much appeal with I am as a coach—but with the 31-point wasn’t the second half of that game but the down $35,000. Barry Bonds’s 760th dinger collectors. Your card is worth $40. deficit at the half and with the sped up clock, rest of the season for this Georgia team. All came in second, grabbing $27,000. Bonds’s Dear Dean: I have a ball signed by I felt the odds of Georgia coming back were the hype, all the promise, and all the godfather Willie Mays’s 656th baseball Greg Maddux that says “Chicks dig the long pretty slim. A good coach (and Nick Saban dreams of a national championship could grabbed $11,000. Mantle’s 485th signed ball.” That was in an ESPN promo. I also have been shattered in just one night. All is home run baseball pulled in $6,500. Hard to have three photos of Maddux, John Smoltz qualifies as such) with a good running game and Tom Glavine. They are each signed with (which Alabama has) would make it impossi- not lost, as Florida also lost earlier in the believe, but Joltin Joe’s last home run base- day, thus giving the Bulldogs hopes of a ball against the New York Giants in Game 4 a gold metal plate with their names below the ble for a comeback. Given the choice of see- of the World Series went for $5,975. All photos and are all framed together with sig- ing a miracle or getting home before 3 a.m., rematch against Alabama in the SEC Championship if both teams win out. If baseballs were sold at auctions between May natures. Any idea as to their values? I went with my first option and I was not and July of this year. Dear Glory Days: Your triple-signed, alone. Somewhere on Sanford Drive I think I that’s the case, there is still a string of hope The NBA Store on Fifth Avenue in New custom-framed autographed piece is worth passed Alabama’s punter making his way for a trip to Miami in January. However, if York will celebrate its 10th anniversary this $300. The original Maddux television com- back to the stadium – they certainly didn’t the Dogs play like they did in the first half year by unveiling its most popular selling jer- mercial was for Nike and was shot with need him in the first half. They say misery of this game against anyone else this sea- seys from the past decade. The store will cel- teammate Tom Glavine. It was a spoof on the loves company and that was certainly the son, those hopes will be destroyed. ebrate with special giveaways and autograph two of them bulking up to become power hit- case as I listened to my fellow refugees.